On the virtual “eve” of Disney’s annual D23 fan event – scheduled for August 9th - 11th in Anaheim, CA – the Star Wars news is already starting to break.

“Longer ago, in a galaxy even farther away …” begins the above video tease for The Star Wars, a Dark Horse Comics series that will pull its story from George Lucas’ original screenplay for his greatest sci-fi work. The Hollywood Reporter shared the exclusive trailer cut together to promote the comic book, which will run for eight issues and start hitting stands on September 4th (You’ll be able to download it through Dark Horse’s digital store beginning that same day, as well).

Watch the above trailer, though, and you’ll immediately notice major changes to Lucas’ eventual storyline. The Star Wars draft, written three years before the movie finally commenced production, features hero Annikan Starkiller, a helmet-free Darth Vader, and a reptilian Han Solo who looks nothing like Han Solo! The Dark Horse animation being used to retell the story in The Star Wars has a Clone Wars look and feel, though that just might be because of the prevalent impact the Clone Wars series has had on the Star Wars universe. It’s hard to look at ANY animation tied to Star Wars and not think about the TV show and animated movie. See for yourself:

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The Oregon-based Dark Horse Comics recruited writer J.W. Rinzler and artist Mike Mayhew to convert The Star Wars. But is this the onlyStar Wars news that we expect to hear over the next few days? No. Absolutely not. I’ll be keeping my ear to the internet all weekend as Disney takes to the stage at D23 to unveil Star Wars news connected to 2015's Episode VII. Despite rumors, director J.J. Abrams remains in the director’s chair, and he’ll be helming a screenplay that has been constructed by Michael Arndt. What might we see and hear out of D23? I’m thinking we might hear an official release date for the movie. Perhaps an official title? Maybe Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill will take the stage? That would send the web into an uproar. Keep it here all weekend as we'll be tracking all of the events from the D23 Expo, but for now: will you check out The Star Wars in comic book form?